Chemical Weapons

The Army's assessment that its stockpile of chemical weapons can be stored safely until 2004 is questionable. According to Sandia National Laboratories, the data on which the Army based its assessment were old and may no longer be representative of munitions in actual field storage. Also, the assessment did not analyze leaking munitions. Sandia recommended that the Army immediately expand its stockpile monitoring activities to include propellant samples from nonleaking and leaking munitions at each storage location. The Army has established a working group to review its assessment and has received $4.5 million in fiscal year 1995 to expand its stockpile monitoring activities. However, the expanded monitoring activities will not resolve all questions about the stability of the stockpile. A contingency plan for emergency disposal of the M55 rocket is needed because it is the only munition in the stockpile that cannot readily be reconfigured to remove its explosive components. However, the Army has not prepared a plan. It is studying several courses of action, but more information on the specific hazards is needed before a plan can be finalized.

GAO found that: (1) the Army's assessment that the chemical weapons stockpile can be safely stored until 2004 is questionable based on inconsistencies in the assessment's supporting data; (2) Sandia National Laboratory officials believe that the Army's assessment data are outdated and no longer representative of the munitions in actual field storage; (3) Sandia National Laboratory officials recommended that the Army expand its stockpile monitoring activities to include propellant samples from non-leaking and leaking munitions at each storage location because the aging problems in its nuclear weapon systems are similar to those encountered in the chemical weapon stockpile; (4) although the Army has established a work group to review its assessment and received $4.5 million to expand its stockpile monitoring activities, these expanded monitoring activities will not resolve all of the questions concerning the stability of the stockpile; (5) the Army needs to establish a contingency plan for emergency disposal of the M55 rocket because it is the only munition in the stockpile that cannot be easily defused; and (6) although the Army is studying several ways to dispose of the M55 rocket, additional information on its specific hazards is needed before a contingency plan can be finalized.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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